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Vic Mackey
Victor Samuel "Vic" Mackey was a Los Angeles Police Department detective working at the Barn in Farmington. He was also the leader of the Strike Team, a four-man anti-gang unit. Personality Mackey is a corrupt yet effective police officer; he steals from drug dealers, beats suspects and has committed murder on three occasions. Two of the victims were violent gangsters, though the first was an undercover officer trying to put Mackey and his team behind bars. Mackey sees his tactics as a means to an end. Vic Mackey's morality is a classic example of dualism. While he has a solid status as a family man, he has cheated on his wife with a number of women (including fellow officer Danny Sofer). He is sworn to uphold the law, yet regularly breaks it for professional and personal gain. Mackey's personality is often viewed as amoral or machiavellian, believing that "the ends justify the means." However, this may also lead to his downfall, which he has narrowly avoided throughout the course of the series. Despite all of the crimes and immoral acts he has committed, Vic is ironically considered the show's "hero." His brutality is usually directed towards dangerous criminals whom he considers deserving of their harsh treatment at his hands-i.e. rapists, child molesters and mass murderers. Even when he's broken the law himself, it's often been in the course of solving even more serious crimes. In the first Season finale episode, Vic cornered a teenager and threatened to plant crack cocaine on him unless he was told who kidnapped and murdered two police officers. In the early days of the Strike Team, Mackey was nearly taken down when rookie Officer Julien Lowe caught him and the Strike Team stealing evidence from a crime scene (in this case, narcotics). However, Mackey obtained leverage against Lowe by catching him in a homosexual act and threatening to expose him. Although Julien vowed to deny Vic's allegations, Vic smugly retorted, "I don't have to prove you're gay, in this house all I have to do is say it, with all the gory details." A terrified Julien immediately caved in to his demands. After this, Vic has attempted to be friendly to Julien, with varying degrees of reception. Early in the series, Mackey extorted money from drug dealers and openly stole their money or drugs. The purpose was to support him and his team's retirement and provide a legacy for their children. Later, he justified stealing gang money to help pay for his kids' autism treatments as well as alimony to his ex-wife Corrine. In the second season, Vic helped his ex-partner and training officer, Joe Clark, bring down the man who got him booted from the force, only to take a bullet in the alley in which they busted the perpetrator. Early Life Little is known about Mackey's early life, although he once mentioned that his father was a bricklayer. In Season Five (circa 2006), he told Lt. Jon Kavanaugh that he had been a cop for 14 years, suggesting that he joined the force sometime between 1991 and 1992. Also, in one of the DVD commentaries for Season Four, Michael Chiklis mentions that the main characters on the show are from the same areas as the actors who play them. This would mean Vic Mackey hails from Boston. Family Mackey was married for a little over 12 years to his wife, Corrine. However, problems between the two resulted in the marriage disintegrating. Though he had often cheated on his wife, he was devastated when she left him. He loves his three children very much and would do anything for them. At the end of Season 6, he refused to parade his autistic children in front of a department review board, despite the fact that Aceveda told him that it could save his job. In season one, his son Matthew was diagnosed with autism. Later, his youngest daughter was diagnosed with autism as well. These family problems, and the necessary financial support, are major rationalizations Mackey gives for continuing to pursue money illegally. Season One The pilot episode closes with Vic murdering Terry Crowley during a drug raid for being a federal informant. Vic is quickly cleared by the department because they are unaware of Terry's status as a federal informant and because of Vic's friendship with Assistant Chief Ben Gilroy. Enraged that Mackey got away with killing a cop in cold blood, Aceveda becomes determined to bring him down. The Strike Team steals some drugs from a bust in order to sell on the street, but are seen by Officer Julian Lowe. Furthermore, the truck with the drugs is stolen from Shane when he stops at a girlfriend's house. When Aceveda learns of the skim from Lowe he becomes determined to recover the drugs and bring down the strike team. Eventually the team manage to recover the drugs and Vic blackmails Julien into recanting his statement. The lost drugs are the lastest incident in Shane's spiral out of control and Vic is advised to let him take the fall if anything goes wrong. However when Mackey's son is diagnosed with autism, Mackey realizes that both his son and his teammate need help and decides to work with them instead of sacrificing them. Vic then tries to enroll his son in a special school but they hear of the skimmed drug allegations and decide not to accept him. Vic manages to convice the admissions officer to change her mind by recovering a stolen ring for her. Vic's wife Corrine becomes increasingly frutrated with him and his antics. Although she defends him when questioned about his questionable activies, she seemes to realize that he makes some money illegally and that he cheats on her. When she sees Vic with a baby, she immediately assumes that he has a love child. The Strike Team's illegal activities generally consisted of protecting drug dealer Rondell Robison, in exchange for reduced violence and a cut of the profits. By allowing Rondell to maintain a monopoly over the farmington drug trade, Vic was able to line his pocket while making himself look good to the department by keeping gang violence down. The drugs that Vic skims off busts generally goes to Rondell to sell. However Rondell becomes incredibly unreliable. He is unable to come up with money to pay the supplier, threatens Officer Sofer, starts a turf war with the Nation of Islam and brags that he has police protection. Mackey eventually grows tired of Rondell and allows his subordinate Theadore Osmond (T.O.) to replace him. At the end of the series, Vic discovers that Ben Gilroy has begun a real-estate scam by manipulating police resources, resulting in the brutal murders of two women which itself leads to people firing at police using fake 911 calls. Ben threatens Vic's family, effectively ending their friendship, and Vic forms an alliance with Aceveda. Eventually Vic brings in both the shooters and Ben, earning the respect of Aceveda who drops a bogus gun warrant that Gilroy had manufactured. However when Vic returns home, he learns that Corrine has left and taken his kids, realizing that the suffering she's going through is due to his mistakes. Season Two Vic spends his time searching for his family, and has kept the news of their departure secret. He also has to deal with an internal auditor, Lanie Kellis poking around as well as brutal crime lord Armadillo Quinterno who is trying to set up in Farmington. Vic is horrified to learn that Shane has invested all the Strike Teams illegal savings with T.O. and is now heavily involved in drug running. Furthermore the money is lost when a drug shipment of T.O.'s is poisened by a supplier. Vic and the team go to Mexico to extort their saving from the supplier (who is Armadillo's brother) and then kidnap him and bring him to the U.S. so that he can be arrested. Upon returning home, Vic tells the team that they are no longer allowed to handle the money. As the pressure of his missing family and Armadillos antics pile on, Vic lashes out at the team and Shane in particular which causes a rift to form. Armadillo manages to consolidate the mexican gangs in farmington by burning any opposition alive. The gangs, which had previously been at each other's throats, unite to take control of the drug game. Armadillo furthers his sadistic reputation by raping the girlfriend of a rival gangster and then tatooing her with a dove sign. He also rapes a 9-year old girl who was a witness to one of his crimes and tatoos her as well. Vic warns Armadillo to leave farmington, and Armadillo responds by burning T.O. alive. Vic manages to track down his family and tries to reason with them, but a private investigator they hired assaults Vic and they escape. Vic then gets the call about T.O. and frustrated by the recent events goes to Armadillo and burns his face on a stove. Vic meet with his mentor Joe Clark, a disgraced former officer who was kicked off the force for brutality. Vic realizes that he may end up like Joe, alone without friends or family. He reconciles with Corrine and promises to move out of the house if she returns. He also makes amends with Shane. Armadillo returns with a vengence and continues to expand his drug-empire. Season Three Season Four Please insert plot summary here. Season Five Please insert plot summary here. Season Six Please insert plot summary here. Season Seven Please insert plot summary here. Relationships * Vic and Aceveda * Vic and Claudette * Vic and Dutch * Vic and Danny * Vic and Shane Notes * On Bravo TV's countdown of the 100 Greatest Television Characters, Michael Chiklis described Mackey as "a cross between Hannibal Lecter and Dirty Harry." Trivia * Mackey appears to favor a Smith & Wesson Model 4506-1 pistol in .45 ACP and carries a snub-nosed revolver as a backup gun. * Mackey wears a Cartier SA Must 21 Chronograph watch. * Mackey's sunglasses are Polo Ralph Lauren|Polo Sport 1048 H4A (silver frames), though The Shield newsletter states the 1071s are a close match as well. See Also * List of crimes by Vic Mackey Appearances Category:Main characters Category:Season 1 characters Category:Season 2 characters Category:Season 3 characters Category:Season 4 characters Category:Season 5 characters Category:Season 6 characters Category:Season 7 characters Category:Detectives Category:Los Angeles Police Department Category:Strike Team Category:The Barn Category:Characters